Flyers send Morin back to Canada

CHRIS KNIGHT, SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL

Team Orange's Samuel Morin (50) takes a shot against Team White during first period action of the Battle on Hamilton Saturday at the PPL Center in Allentown.

Team Orange's Samuel Morin (50) takes a shot against Team White during first period action of the Battle on Hamilton Saturday at the PPL Center in Allentown. (CHRIS KNIGHT, SPECIAL TO THE MORNING CALL)

VOORHEES – The decision to send Samuel Morin back to junior hockey wasn't easy but made sense.

Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said Friday it was tempting to keep the rookie defenseman on the roster but then realized his strong performance in preseason might not translate into success once play begins for real.

Morin headed back to Rimouski Oceanic on Friday and will continue to develop on Canadian junior hockey's top-ranked team.

In other news on Friday, the Flyers put enforcer Jay Rosehill on waivers, leaving the team seemingly without a proactive fighter for the first time in recent memory.

Without question, Morin figures in the Flyers' future plans but coaches and scouts agree he's not quite ready.

"He played very well, opened a lot of eyes,'' Hextall said at the Skate Zone. "It (possibility of keeping him in Philadelphia) gets a little tempting.

"But then you hit refresh and think about reality. These are just preseason games and there are a lot of young players in the lineup. And the older players aren't necessarily bringing their good stuff.

"There are two more levels that play goes up between preseason and the regular season – 15 games in. So, in the end, we felt it was the right thing to do.''

Hextall said the Flyers will open the season with 22 players, meaning 13 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders.

With prospects like Morin, Shayne Gostisbehere and Robert Hagg in the development pipeline, the Flyers have a deep pool of talent on defense for the future.

"We're excited about Sam,'' Hextall said. "He has a great attitude. His first question was: 'Can I get to Rimouski tonight to play?' He wanted to get right up and play for his junior team. He's going to a good situation.''

Hextall says his biggest fear is that Morin might go back to junior and try to convert himself into more of a "skill'' player, which is not what he really is. His best attributes are size, speed and strength, not putting up a whole bunch of points.

Hextall will have to wait to see if Rosehill clears waivers before deciding if other moves are necessary. Getting Rosehill's salary off the cap was needed to reach compliance before the season starts.

This is about as far from the "Broad Street Bullies'' as you're going to get but Hextall doesn't sound concerned. He's got some pretty tough hombres with Zac Rinaldo, Wayne Simmonds and Luke Schenn, among others, who can hold their own in altercations.

Plus he can always call up a heavyweight like Zack Stortini from the Phantoms if the situation calls for it.

"Jay was a hard one,'' Hextall said. "He works extremely hard, he did a good job for us. He does maybe the hardest job in pro sports and he did it very well. He sat out (games) and he had a good attitude. It was a hard one (decision) but given our cap ramifications, we felt like this was the right way to go for now.''

Hextall said having the salaries of Chris Pronger and Kimmo Timonen off the books will get the Flyers down under the salary cap and allow for call-ups if needed.

The GM believes his team, which finished the preseason 3-3-2, is in a good position to start the season on Wednesday in Boston.

"I think we're all excited, the preseason tends to drag on,'' he said. "You play a lot of games in a few nights – you aren't playing for anything and the players aren't real fond of it.

"Our young group of forwards, they should all be better (than the beginning of last year). On the back end, I like our group. (Michael) Del Zotto seems to have fit in fairly well. As a team, as a group, we have to be better defensively.''

One question mark is the status of Wayne Simmonds, who suffered a lower-body injury in Tuesday night's 4-2 home win over the New York Rangers. Hextall said Simmonds is on the trip to Cape Cod, Mass. to complete training camp this weekend but is not a lock to play against the Bruins.

"We're not sure, we think he has a chance to play,'' Hextall said.

Rosehill's exit means Pierre-Edouardo Bellemare and Blair Jones will be on board for fourth-line duty. Jones is versatile enough to move over to a wing position.